That’s great Bruce, we get those black wattles here too.

How did this video help your soil? Did you manage to grow vegetables with success?

Adding organic matter is my favoured approach also.

I also found that adding compost works much better.

Gypsum really only works for high sodium (sodic) clays.

Do you have advice about how much compost and organic standards? I am at a loss of where to start.

@@lisagrace6471 The more the better. I have 95+% heavy clay and had good luck adding some compost and leaves (not very much, an inch or two max), tilling it in as much as possible (a real workout even with a rear tine walk behind tiller) and then growing a series of cover crops over the coarse of 2-3 years. After that, it became very productive and loose. The cover crops used were daikon radish, Austrian winter peas and triticale mix (equal parts) in the early spring as soon as the ground thawed. You can harvest pea shoots, the pea pods, daikon radish and radish greens while it is growing. Then in late june, I cut everything with a mower, left the cuttings in place, waited a week, tilled then planted some sorghum. When it got about 5+ feet tall, I cut it to 3 foot high(this encourages the sorghum to root deeper/more extensively) and let it grow until late September, cut it down and left the cuttings in place and resowed with the radish/pea/triticale mix and left it grow until it got winter killed. Repeated the following years. I'm in Zone 6a so you'd have to adjust your planting to your zone.

same here.New in MO and the soil is rock solid😅

Old plaster boards are mainly made from Gypsum and not welcomed at many dump sites.

Try any local dairies to ask for some truckloads of cow manure, top up with any straw, cardboard, lawn clippings, etc that you can beg from your area. I have turned my clay gardens from rock hard clay to nice soil. An Aussie gardener /farmer.

Aren't they wonderful?

Kookaburras are adorable.

Thanks, glad you enjoyed it!

Thanks, you too!

I just keep adding organic matter-mostly on top, as I favour the no dig method.

Silt port loam soil is actually highly sought after by some people if you know how to incorporate the correct things according to nature you have your self terra Preta soil which is the Amazon soil that is some of the most sought after soil on our planet.

@@BrixThePlanter I don't know what to do - can you explain this in more dummie terms for me?

Do those plaster boards contain glues and adhesive to keep it solid and bonded to the paper ? Thanks

Thanks, I planted Dutch Creams, which is the main variety I grow.

I mix my own: feed wheat and oats (sometimes only oats) with legumes (dried peas, mung beans, excess broad beans,) also any old seeds and I also like to add mustard seed (a little goes long way) which I buy from the spice section!

We here in Tassie are feeling for you!

Personally I find a couple of weeks is usually sufficient. But I don't think it is time critical - examine the soil and make your own judgement.

kookaburras

@@mattdotile Ok, thanks. I’ll have to look them up. Never heard of them.

Kookaburra!

I don’t think so!

Add lots of organic matter.

Use proper soap in your washing machine and let the water go onto the clay. The soap will decrease the stickiness of the clay, much in the same way gypsum does. Also if you see someone throwing out gyprock drywall, ask if you can have it, probably best if it's been painted with non lead water based paint, if not, you could strip the paint off. Crush it and you have gypsum

Have you looked at kzfaq.info/get/bejne/ebShidx5zLPcY3U.html - it's an older video I made which has close-ups of the wheel hoe.

yep i did watch that one twice but never got a good look at the blade shape of the old hoe that you use for hilling .i will do some more searching online .

A good result usually requires work!

You don’t have to do all everything spoken about here. If you just start putting in crops and using the soil it will slowly mend over time and become move and move usable and organic. Just start. And hoes work well too.